A California police officer trapped inside a moving vehicle fatally shot an armed suspect who was trying to flee a traffic stop last week.
The incident happened shortly after 9:15 a.m. Thursday when San Bernardino police had pulled over a vehicle for multiple violations, KTLA-TV reports. During the stop, the driver refused to get out of his vehicle and continued to try to reach for a gun that had been inside his shirt.
Police tried to pull the suspect out of the vehicle, and the man began to fight with officers. While an officer was leaning into the passenger side window, the man drove off.
The officer tried to unbuckle the driver and turn off the ignition. The suspect went for his gun inside his shirt, and the officer trapped in the car opened fire, fatally wounding the suspect.
“After the shooting, the officer had to take control of the still-moving vehicle and steer it to safety to prevent it from colliding with other motorists on the roadway,” the department stated in a release.
The suspect, a documented gang member with an extensive criminal record, was taken to the hospital, where he later died. Police recovered a firearm and “an amount of suspected narcotics.”
The officer who was not trapped in the vehicle was injured in the incident. No details were released about the nature of the injuries or the officer's condition.
